Türkiye's first astronaut will have "important tasks" after successfully completing a space mission, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Alper Gezeravcı a day after he returned to Earth.
The SpceX Dragon spacecraft carrying Gezeravcı and three other members splashed down off the coast of Florida on Friday, completing a return after a nearly three-week stay at the International Space Station (ISS).
In a phone call on Saturday, Erdoğan expressed hope that he would meet Gezeravcı in person in Ankara to get more details about his stay at the ISS.
"You will have very important tasks from now on," the president told Gezeravcı, thanking him for successfully completing the mission.
Gezeravcı said this journey was "an inspiring duty" to Türkiye and future generations.
Türkiye became the 22nd country to reach the ISS, he said, adding that his country reached there "the fastest, from the beginning of the training to the execution of the mission at the ISS."
Türkiye celebrated Gezeravcı's launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A former fighter pilot and captain for Turkish Airlines (THY), he became the first person from his country to fly to space.
The Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew docked at the ISS on Jan. 20. The spacecraft undocked last Wednesday for a trip back that lasted around 47 hours.
After initial safety checks by SpaceX staff, the Dragon capsule was lifted onto a recovery vessel and its crew disembarked from the spacecraft.
On the ship, crew members took their first steps after roughly three weeks in non-gravity conditions.
The crew traveled to Houston, Texas, where they will remain under observation to complete the adaptation process.
While in orbit, Gezeravcı and his three crewmates from Spain, Italy and Sweden conducted about 30 science experiments, learning more about the impact of microgravity on the human body, advancing industrial processes, and more. They also chatted with schoolchildren and officials from their countries.
About half of the experiments were conducted by Gezeravcı alone.
The mission was initially meant to last two weeks, but the return journey was delayed by several days owing to bad weather, resulting in an 18-day stay on the ISS.
Erdoğan said after the crew landed that Türkiye would send many more people to space.
The journey is part of Türkiye's ambitious 10-year space road map, unveiled in early 2021, including missions to the moon and developing internationally viable satellite systems.
The program envisages working with other countries to build a spaceport and create a global satellite technology brand.
Gezeravcı's trip is all but sure to contribute to scientific literature, boosting the Turkish people's interest in space.
In his first remarks after the launch, Gezeravcı said: "The future is in the skies," reciting the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye.
"As Türkiye, we are experiencing the joy of taking a step toward a first in our history. We are eager to contribute to the science and research conducted here," he added.
Experiments at ISS
As soon as Gezeravcı arrived at the ISS as a low Earth orbit laboratory, he transferred experiment setups from the Dragon capsule to pre-experiment storage positions.
Then he observed reactions of various microgravity experiments, ranging from cancer to immune cells and from algae to propolis.
He successfully conducted 13 experiments prepared by the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and TÜBITAK Space Commission.
Gezeravcı's experiments conducted over 14 days, had definitions of terms for easier understanding shared daily on the Turkish Space Agency's (TUA) social media accounts.
Links with Türkiye
Gezeravcı answered public questions, especially from young people, about space and explained scientific research through live connections with Earth.
His first contact was with Erdoğan, to whom he expressed pride in representing Türkiye on the ISS and expressed hope for Turkish youth.
"You have become an inspiration to our entire nation," Erdoğan said.
"For years, space has been considered a dream belonging to other nations, and by turning this dream into reality, you have given many Turkish youth, including myself, the gift of hope," Gezeravcı told the president.
During his stay at the ISS, Gezeravcı wished every citizen of Türkiye to "draw inspiration" from his journey, creating "hope for the future."
He met with students from various cities and answered journalists' questions through a live connection.
He highlighted important qualities of an astronaut: composure, education, language skills, flight experience, physical and mental health, patience, perseverance and passion.
Gezeravcı emphasized the importance of school lessons for future astronauts of Türkiye.
Ahead of his return, he expressed gratitude for the journey.
"This was the starting point of a story, not the destination. May our journey ahead be auspicious for our entire nation," Gezeravcı said.